320: Chapter 320 A Person from Another World, Ling Shuanghan!

The horn sound was sharp and ear-piercing, echoing over the ice sheet for a full three seconds.

Within those three seconds, the ice crevice camp completed the entire switch from slumber to combat readiness.

Four rows of crossbowmen appeared simultaneously above the ice walls on both sides—no, those weren't crossbows.

They were some kind of crystalline ranged weapons.

Their shape looked like an ice pick and a crossbow mechanism forcibly grafted together, exuding an eerie feeling of "I am not a product of Blue Star."

Four rows of crystal crossbowmen, twenty per row, eighty crystal crossbows aimed simultaneously at Lin Yuan's party.

Three columns poured out from the entrance of the ice crevice, their grey-white combat uniforms uniform in the morning light, their movements as fluid as if they had been rehearsed ten thousand times.

No—not rehearsed.

They had truly fought ten thousand times.

Lin Yuan saw it at a glance.

These people's positioning wasn't the standard formation taught on a training ground, but the optimal solution repeatedly corrected by blood and life in actual combat.

The distance between each person was just enough to allow their companion beside them to swing a blade without obstruction, yet close enough to cover for each other within 0.3 seconds.

One hundred years.

This group of people had lived in the Apocalypse for one hundred years.

Luo Qinghan's breathing stalled slightly.

She had lived to the tenth year of the Apocalypse in her previous life, already considering herself one of the people who understood the Apocalypse best in this world.

But the aura of this troop before her—

It was heavier than any army she had seen in her previous life.

It was something condensed after being repeatedly tempered by despair.

Not courage, not fighting spirit, but a kind of near-numb precision.

They weren't afraid. Not because they were brave.

It was because the emotion of fear had already been ground away in one hundred years of war.

Ye Qingyue shrank her neck and muttered softly:

"This formation… are we here to negotiate or to deliver our heads?"

"Shut up." Ye Qingxue said in a low voice.

"Oh."

Ye Qingyue obediently shut up for two seconds.

Then she added softly: "But I think they shouldn't hit me, I look relatively harmless."

Luo Qinghan glanced at her expressionlessly.

Harmless?

The last time you said that, three ice-armored centipedes opposite were chopped into six pieces by your sister.

Lin Yuan did not stop.

His pace had not changed from beginning to end—neither fast nor slow, neither tight nor loose.

Eighty crystal crossbow tips tracked his figure, but his expression was as if he were taking a walk in his own backyard.

This contrast caused a moment of confusion among the soldiers of the ice crevice camp.

There were only seven people who came.

Facing a combat formation of eight hundred people, the young man leading them—

Didn't even move an eyebrow.

Either he was a fool.

Or he truly didn't care.

A voice came from deep within the ice crevice.

Not loud, but clear enough that it seemed to ring directly in everyone's ears.

"Put away your weapons."

Three words.

Eighty crystal crossbows were raised simultaneously, and the three columns silently parted to both sides, clearing a path.

The whole process took less than a second.

An army of eight hundred people had their status instantly switched by three words.

This level of control made Luo Qinghan's pupils contract slightly.

At the end of the passage, a figure walked out from the shadow of the ice wall.

Lin Yuan's gaze narrowed slightly.

Silver-white long hair draped down to her waist like a waterfall, every strand of hair looking like silk spun from moonlight, casting a cold and eerie luster in the faint light refracted by the ice wall.

That face—

Made everyone present hold their breath.

The features were so delicate they seemed unreal, like an ultimate work carved stroke by stroke by the Creator using the purest ice crystals.

Sword-like eyebrows slanted into her temples, her eyes were a very light silver-gray, and the depths of her pupils seemed to seal the loneliness of an entire ice sheet.

The bridge of her nose was high and sharp, her lips pale.

Yet she carried a sharp beauty that made people afraid to look directly at her.

Her skin was as white as fresh snow, so delicate that not a single pore could be seen.

The cold light from the ice wall hit her face, making her look like a deity who had walked out of thousand-year-old permafrost.

Her figure was even more astonishing—the grey-white combat uniform clung tightly to her body, outlining long and full curves.

Her waist was impossibly slender.

Yet it didn't look thin at all, instead exuding a kind of suppleness filled with power.

The collar of the combat uniform was slightly open, revealing a swan-like slender neck, and the collarbone lines were as beautiful as a painting.

Her beauty was not the kind of fragile beauty that needed pity.

It was a peerless beauty that stood above everything, making people feel awe.

Like an ice lotus blooming in a blizzard—the colder it was, the more it bloomed; the more desperate it was, the more magnificent it became.

Ye Qingyue's mouth opened into a perfect 'O' shape.

Ye Qingxue's eyes also flashed; she rarely felt moved by other women's appearances.

But this silver-haired woman before her—

Was indeed above her.

[Ding! High-quality Goddess detected!]

[Scanning Goddess information...]

[Scan complete! Goddess information is as follows:]

[Name: Ling Shuanghan]

[Age: Appearance 22 years old (Actual age 122 years old)]

[Identity: Last Empress of the "Eternal Winter" Apocalypse from another world, leader of 800 survivors]

[Beauty: 99 points (Peerless Frost)]

[Figure: 96-59-97 (Extremely perfect)]

[constitution: 58000 (Tempered by a century of extreme cold)]

[Spiritual Power: 62000 (Tempered by a century of war)]

[Superpower: SSS-level Frost Emperor Domain, SSS-level Eternal Winter Will, S-level Ice Crystal Forging]

[Trait: Inexperienced]

Lin Yuan finished looking at the panel, his eyes changing slightly.

99 points.

He had collected so many goddesses, and even Murong Xueer, who had the highest beauty, was only 98 points.

This woman—directly refreshed the record.

But what he cared about more was not her beauty.

It was her constitution and Spiritual Power.

58000 and 62000.

These values had far exceeded the upper limit of all goddesses on Blue Star.

A century of extreme cold Apocalypse had forged this woman into a true weapon.

She wore the same grey-white combat uniform as the others.

But on her, that combat uniform looked like custom-made armor—every fold was just right, every bit of wear was a medal.

A crystal short blade hung at her waist, with dense patterns carved on the scabbard, like some kind of ancient script.

The moment she walked out, the temperature in the air seemed to drop a few more degrees.

It wasn't a Superpower.

It was her aura.

A pure, unadorned, built up over a hundred years with countless lives—

The aura of a ruler.

Luo Qinghan subconsciously tensed her body.

Her Lightning Ability surged uncontrollably within her body.

This was her body's instinctive reaction when facing a high-level threat.

SSS-level.

No—far beyond SSS-level.

This woman's strength had completely exceeded Blue Star's existing rating system.

The silver-haired woman stopped five steps away from Lin Yuan.

Her gaze swept over Lin Yuan, then over the six people behind him.

Finally, it returned to Lin Yuan's face.

She was silent for three seconds.

"I am called Frost Emperor."

The voice was not loud, but every word sounded like an ice pick tapping on jade, crisp and cold.

"Real name Ling Shuanghan. You are Blue Star people."

Not a question. A statement.

Lin Yuan nodded slightly: "Lin Yuan."

"You brought six people to see eight hundred."

Ling Shuanghan's gaze was as calm as water.

"Either you have absolute confidence, or you don't consider us a threat at all. Which is it?"

"Both."

Lin Yuan's answer was concise to the point of being rude.

Ling Shuanghan's eyes moved slightly.

She had lived for a hundred years and had seen countless people.

People who could remain calm in the face of her aura.

It wasn't that there weren't any, but those people were, without exception, beings standing at the top of the world.

This young man looked to be only in his early twenties.

But his posture standing there made Ling Shuanghan think of someone.

One hundred years ago, before her world was destroyed, the one standing on the throne overlooking everything—

Herself.

Ling Shuanghan put away her last bit of contempt.

"I will ask you three questions."

"Please."

"How many people do you have?"

"Five thousand."

"Strongest combat power?"

Lin Yuan looked at her, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"What do you think?"

Ling Shuanghan was silent for a second.

Her perception ability had been running at full capacity the moment the other party approached. The result made her extremely uneasy—

She could not perceive this young man's strength limit.

It wasn't that she couldn't perceive it, it was that she couldn't even touch the boundary.

Just like standing on the edge of a cliff looking down, there was no bottom in the darkness.

"The third question."

Ling Shuanghan suppressed the waves in her heart, her voice still steady.

"Do you know what silver light is?"

As soon as this question came out, several senior officers behind her tensed their bodies simultaneously.

silver light—was the direct reason they escaped from their own world to Blue Star.

It was the mark of the cleanser.

It was the countdown to death.

Lin Yuan did not answer immediately.

He looked into Ling Shuanghan's eyes, as if weighing something.

Then he said a sentence.

"silver light—is it the weapon of the cleanser, or the prey that the cleanser is hunting?"

Ling Shuanghan's pupils shrank suddenly.

The officers behind her tightened their grips on their weapons almost simultaneously.

The air froze in that instant.

Ye Qingyue felt her hair stand on end.

Not because of the cold, but because the killing intent of eight hundred people around her surged up at that same second.

She subconsciously leaned towards her sister.

Then she realized Ye Qingxue was also leaning towards her side.

The sisters looked at each other and simultaneously pretended that nothing had happened.

Ling Shuanghan was silent.

A full five seconds.

Five seconds, in this atmosphere, felt as long as five years.

"…How do you know the word 'cleanser'?"

Her voice finally had a trace of fluctuation.

An extremely small fluctuation—but for a century-old empress with terrifying control.

This trace of fluctuation was already equivalent to an ordinary person's scream.

Lin Yuan did not explain.

He just said blandly: "It seems we have a lot to talk about."

Ling Shuanghan stared at him for a long time.

She had lived for a hundred years.

She had seen countless types of people.

Cunning, stupid, brave, cowardly, crazy, calm.

But this young man before her—

She couldn't see through him.

Completely unable to see through.

He knew far more than he showed.

Every sentence of his seemed to have carefully calculated information content.

Giving just enough to arouse her interest, while leaving enough blank space so she couldn't judge his trump cards.

This was not an ordinary Apocalypse leader.

This was a chess player on the same level as her.

"Come in and talk."

Ling Shuanghan turned and walked towards the depths of the ice crevice.

...

Inside the ice wall camp, it was more orderly than it looked from the outside.

Barracks were arranged along both sides of the ice crevice.

Utilizing the natural arc of the ice wall to form a semi-enclosed space.

In the center was a polished flat ice surface, serving as a conference table.

Ling Shuanghan sat on one side of the ice surface, Lin Yuan sat on the other.

Both sides' people lined up on either side.

When Ye Qingyue sat down, she touched the ice surface.

Then she retracted her hand—the temperature of the ice surface was low enough to make the skin lose sensation instantly.

She looked at those soldiers from another world opposite, and found that they were sitting on the ice surface without changing their expressions.

A hundred years of Eternal Winter.

This bit of temperature was probably no different from sitting on a sofa for them.

Ling Shuanghan spoke.

Her narration was concise, precise, and carried no extra emotion.

Like making a battlefield report.

"My world, the Apocalypse has descended for one hundred years."

"In the first ten years, the population dropped from eight billion to four hundred million."

"In the twentieth year, from four hundred million to eighty million."

"In the fiftieth year, from eighty million to two million."

"In the one hundredth year, these eight hundred people I brought out are the last of all."

Her tone was as calm as if she were reading a string of numbers.

But behind every number, were deaths in the hundreds of millions.

"Our world also experienced extreme cold. We call it 'Eternal Winter'."

Ling Shuanghan glanced at the ice wall.

"So when we arrived at your Blue Star's White Frost Era, my people adapted well. For us, the temperature here... is considered warm."

Ye Qingyue opened her mouth, then closed it.

Below zero degrees is considered warm?

She suddenly felt that her previous behavior of complaining about the cold was a bit shameful.

"The cleanser—is the thing that destroyed our world."

Ling Shuanghan continued.

"It is not a creature, not a weapon, it is more like... the universe's immune system. When a world is judged as 'unqualified', the cleanser will descend to execute the purge."

"silver light is its mark. The appearance of silver light means that the Vanguard of the cleanser has locked onto the target."

"Thirty days later, the main body of the cleanser will descend. At that time—"

She paused.

"No power can resist it."

After these words were spoken, the atmosphere present became heavy to the extreme.

Ye Qingxue's fists clenched subconsciously.

Luo Qinghan's expression was grave—what Ling Shuanghan said highly matched the memories of her previous life.

Qin Ziyan subconsciously touched the weapon at her waist.

Su Yuyan and Ji Wushuang looked at each other, both seeing gravity in each other's eyes.

The only person who had no change in expression—

Was Lin Yuan.

Ling Shuanghan noticed this.

From the first second she started narrating, she had been observing Lin Yuan's reaction.

The result made her increasingly uneasy.

This young man's expression had no fluctuation from beginning to end.

It wasn't forced calmness.

It was truly, completely unsurprised.

As if every word she said, he already knew.

One hundred years of Apocalypse—he wasn't surprised.

Ninety-nine point nine nine percent extinction rate—he wasn't surprised.

cleanser—he wasn't surprised.

Thirty-day countdown—he wasn't surprised.

Ling Shuanghan's heart sank.

She suddenly had an extremely absurd thought—

Was she asking him for help, or was he extracting information from her?

"Your expression tells me," Ling Shuanghan said slowly, "that this information is not news to you."

Lin Yuan did not deny it.

"A part of it is."

"Which part?"

"The fact that your world experienced Eternal Winter."

Lin Yuan's tone was as casual as if he were chatting about the weather.

"The rest—is roughly within expectations."

Ling Shuanghan was silent.

She had lived for a hundred years.

Leading her people to escape from one disaster to another.

She thought she was the person who understood the cleanser best in this universe.

But now this young man sitting opposite her—

He might know more than her.

And he looked to be only in his early twenties.

Ling Shuanghan suddenly felt that she had lived this hundred years like a joke.

Ye Qingyue whispered to Ye Qingxue beside her:

"Sister, do you feel that the silver-haired sister's look at Brother Lin Yuan is getting more and more complicated?"

Ye Qingxue didn't speak.

Because her own look at Lin Yuan was also very complicated.

Every time she thought she understood this man enough.

He would refresh her cognition in a whole new way.

This feeling—

Both proud and powerless.

Proud that this man was hers.

Powerless that she would never know where his bottom line was.

Above the ice wall, a melting water droplet slid slowly along the ice surface, making a very faint sound in the silence.

Ling Shuanghan raised her head, her gaze meeting Lin Yuan's.

A hundred years of vicissitudes, against twenty years of bottomless depths.

"Lin Yuan."

She called his name for the first time.

"Who exactly are you?"

Lin Yuan smiled slightly.

"Someone who is quite good at living life."

Ling Shuanghan: "..."